Shame on City Council for approving payroll tax by ignoring citizen input

Last night five of the six progressives on the Salem City Council approved a payroll tax that everyone who works in Salem has to pay, even if they don't live in Salem.

It was a shameful decision. And I've chosen to use that word, shameful, because Mayor Chris Hoy, one of those who voted for the payroll tax, got irked at Councilor Gwyn when she said to her fellow councilors, "Shame on you, shame on you." (Thanks to Salem-Keizer Proletariat for reporting that comment in an informative post about the meeting.)

I didn't attend the meeting, nor did I watch it online. I'm thankful that I didn't, since the 6 pm meeting ended around 11 pm, which is a ridiculously long time to expect citizens to put in to see their local elected officials in action. 

Rachel Alexander of the Salem Reporter attended the meeting, though, tweeting about it throughout the evening. Here's an example.

Alexander also has written a story about the decision, aptly titled "Salem councilors vote to tax worker paychecks after citizens overwhelmingly ask them not to."

The Salem City Council voted narrowly Monday night to tax the paychecks of Salem workers after listening to over two hours of public testimony overwhelmingly opposed to the proposal.

Councilors voted 5-4 to implement a tax that would have the average person who works in Salem pay about $500 per year to close a city budget deficit. The additional money would pay for existing police officers and firefighters and adding more of both and keep homeless sheltering services open after the federal and state money currently paying for them runs out next year.

The vote took place after 11 p.m., near the end of an at-times heated meeting where citizens spoke emotionally about the impact a new tax would have on their budgets, and councilors at times sniped at each other during deliberations.

“My earning power is decreasing rapidly. I’m very concerned that if this tax is passed I will not be able to afford housing,” said Margaret May, a Salem resident and state employee. She called approving the tax without sending it to voters “cowardly and shameful.”

A crowd filled the council chamber at the start of the 6 p.m. meeting but their numbers dwindled into the night as audience members looked on, at times snorting or applauding as councilors spoke about their intended votes. 

Councilor Julie Hoy led an unsuccessful effort to refer the tax to voters at the next general election.

The five councilors who voted for the payroll tax were Mayor Chris Hoy, Virginia Stapleton, Linda Nishioka, Trevor Phillips, and Micki Varney. The four councilors who voted against the payroll tax, after a motion to refer the tax to voters failed, were Julie Hoy, Deanna Gwyn, Vanessa Nordyke, and Jose Gonzalez.

The Portland Oregonian has republished the Salem Reporter story, which will help show much of Oregon that the Salem City Council is dedicated to ignoring citizen input in favor of going along with a money-raising scheme put forward by City of Salem staff, as a tweet from Angry Owl stated.

That last comment is right-on. The City of Salem does indeed work for the City of Salem bureaucracy, not the public. But the five city councilors who voted for the payroll tax, all progressives, failed to ask tough questions before they mindlessly decided to tax the average worker $500 a year.

Like, why should the Police and Fire Departments be lavished with $17 million of the $28 million to be raised each year by the payroll tax when those departments already suck up the vast majority of the city's general fund budget?

And, if the payroll tax is such a great idea, why not ask Salem voters to approve it at the November election? 

I came across a comment by Clifford Eiffler-Rodriguez on a Facebook post that was so close to how I feel about last night's outrageously bad decision, I'm including it below.

The funding mechanism for the tax is a mess. And puts undue economic pressure on workers and businesses based in Salem. It's an economic fail whale.

 

I live here, I work elsewhere. I won't pay the tax and that's fucked up. A big loss for the city. It's a poorly realized funding mechanism and needs greater scrutiny and revision.

 

Funding is only part of the question. The lack of accountability in pursuing this budget question with voters is another.

 

Our government is growing and increasingly complex. While there are means for the public to take part, like the budget committee and these public hearings, there is a steep burden to be politically active and engaged for many members of the community at large. We are fortunate to have so many people who take their time to help shape our city.

 

Belittling the public for not having "the facts" means you'd rather gatekeep then educate folks on the need. It's very callous to follow the example of the council and cut people out of the process.

 

But you can't ignore PEOPLE DID SHOW UP. PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SPEAKING OUT. What was overwhelmingly asked was that this tax was referred to voters. The prevailing side cited a vote of 13-5 in the budget committee.

 

Last night the circle got a little wider. And only 15% of people currently support the tax as it is now enacted. A cascade of community members, leaders, and other affected communities engaged in the process and were summarily ignored.

 

Others shared how they collaborated with the council in crafting or mulling alternatives and are now having their work tossed aside.

 

When these officials are elected, they do take an oath to be champions of this city. Leaders in the community. What you are seeing is a LACK of leadership. They didn't want to do the work to include the public of whom they are asking more of.

 

That is shameful of the Mayor. Shameful of the councilors who approved it.

 

What we are doing now is not working. The strain is being felt by everyone. But to ask for more money to do more of the same, WHICH IS NOT WORKING, is infuriating and corrupt.

 

Many citizens took this council to task about the financial prioritizations of the various elements of the budget. These play a large part in triggering the need for additional tax revenues.

 

We have a council and City Manager who blithely carry water for two department heads [Police and Fire] , accepting the hyperbole sold by them as they fail to restructure to better meet our city's acute needs.

 

The city and its leadership are ignoring paths to financial responsibility in addition to finding the money to pay for SERVICES WE NEED.

 

When we include the wider community in the discussion, planning, and execution of this upcoming budget I am confident we can find the funding for the tools we need to serve our community more compassionately, efficiently, and be able to enjoy the transformation of this pretty little spot on a rock we all share.

 

These 5 took that power away from the community last night. They showed no leadership in that very act.

I'll end by saying that what struck me about last night was how much it reminded me of contentious City Council meetings when conservatives controlled the council. 

Back then, there would be lengthy meetings where the Mayor and other council members were taking some action to further the cause of a Third Bridge across the Willamette, which I liked to call the Billion Dollar Boondoggle.

Lots of citizens would submit testimony against the Third Bridge, many testifying in person. But the City Council wasn't really listening to them, because their minds were made up ahead of time. So they'd try to look as interested as possible while clearly being disinterested in the public input.

Same thing happened last night, except now it was the progressive majority on the City Council who ignored the views of citizens and did what they were planning to do because city staff told them to do it.

Like the Facebook commenter said, that isn't leadership. It's the opposite of leadership. To my mind, shameful cowardice.

Comments

[Les Margosian]

Excellent column!, but you might also add that Council's rationale was a blatantly dishonest one. The budget deficit was mostly attributable to their obsession with making Salem an important aviation center, the total cost of which is still unknown but will be around $10 million for starters. Their contention that if the tax was not passed programs for addressing our homeless problem would be first on the chopping block was similarly dishonest. While on one hand they wept crocodile tears for the homeless and repeatedly chanted their mantra that the public demanded they do something, about it, they had obviously designated these programs a very low priority and the first to be cut.
Our democracy is embattled at all levels of government and not least of all in Salem, Oregon.

[Lori Martino]

I was at this council meeting. Over 200 pages of written testimony against this tax and more than 40 who expressed the same sentiment in person. At the minimum it should have gone to the voters to decide. Obviously, some of these elected officials are not representing us. I know, shocking. I am livid and wanting to do more, but unsure of what. Please let me know if you hear of any grass root efforts to make our voices heard! So happy I found this website!